Best hunting Rifle poll.

[Firedogg]

  My Browning Stainless Stalker in .300 Win Mag has been nothing but solid and a great performer. Bolt is nice and smooth, the trigger is crisp and easily adjustible, sits in the composite stock well and comes up to the shoulder naturally without having to move it around. Seems to like several different factory loads from 165-180grn.

To make it even better for me it is also a left handed model.

[Bofire]

OK just rifle TODAY  I'd go with the Tikka T3x, stainless lite. prolly in a 6.5 Creedmore.
Carl

[yakimarcher]

I have a vanguard with a timney trigger and a bell and carlson stock, so that's what I voted for, my brother has a savage 111 and there's nothing wrong with it (except for the cheesy plastic stock), I think the weatherby is a stronger action though.  I've heard nothing but good things about Tikkas, Sakos and Brownings. I have heard that Remmingtons and Winchesters aren't what they used to be.

[Karl Blanchard]

I've shot and done load developement on all those rifles except for the Steyr and the xbolt.  Of those rifles my number one pick would be Tikka.  They just shoot.  Savage is a close second but I'd be dropping a timney in it.  Same with a remington.

[huntnphool]

I've heard nothing but good things about Tikkas

 I've read several posts of guys saying they will never own another over the years.

[jbauch357]

The Tikka is going to have better fit/finish, will be lighter, the bolt is going to be smoother, magazines easier to change, won't require custom scope bases (but do require Tikka specific rings) and the trigger is going to be better. The only drawback for the Tikka is that their synthetic stocks are extremely sensitive to variations in action bolt torque.

The Savage is arguably going to be more accurate in the long run and the accustock chassis is aesthetically ugly but engineering wise a thing of beauty. Really the Savage is just a bit less refined than the Tikka, but still a very good rifle.

[bobcat]

Seems like the Ruger American is getting tons of attention but not one vote?

Why buy a $350 rifle if you have $1000 to spend?

[T Pearce]

Tikka still using plastic bolt covers and long actions for SA calibers?

[Bob33]

Seems like the Ruger American is getting tons of attention but not one vote?

Why buy a $350 rifle if you have $1000 to spend?

Why pay $1000 if a $350 rifle shoots as well?

[jbauch357]

Tikka still using plastic bolt covers and long actions for SA calibers?

The T3X has a metallic bolt shroud. - http://www.tikka.fi/en-us/rifles/tikka-t3x

What I haven't seen mentioned is how far OP is going to be shooting, if they're just using this for a west side brush gun any of these rifles are going to take game at 100yds.

[idaho guy]

weatherby 30-378 for long range-big and heavy though so weatherby 257 mag for lighter weight but still accurate rifle-could get used I think for 1000? not sure

[hunter_sean08]

Just things I've read on the interweb forums about being hit or miss out of the box. Some guys love them but enough guys have had to send theirs back to Kimber or have a gunsmith work on them that I wouldn't buy one unless I could shoot it first. But they sure do look and feel awesome. My vote for a lightweight accurate hunting rifle would be the Browning X Bolt Hells Canyon Speed. In a 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 6.5#s looks awesome and out of the box shooting sub 3/4" groups. Not that I could shoot it that we'll but it can do it.

I've been thinking about buying the X Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed for a little while now. Haven't pulled the trigger yet because I figure I'd just save a little while longer to justify spending the additional few hundred dollars down the road. I always loved the Remington XCR but never threw down on one before they discontinued production. I'm not going to let another great rifle slip through my fingers, and this gun has great reviews on its performance. I was just going to buy one of the new Tikka T3x Lites with a stainless barrel, but it sounds like I will be getting a .270 Tikka passed down to me by my grandpa when he hangs up his hunter orange after this next hunting season. Since I'll own a pair of straight shooting .270's pretty soon, I'm thinking I need to step up on the caliber for bigger game, so I'll likely go with a .300 win mag or 7mm mag. Glad to hear you like this rifle! I'm not sure if they make left-handed models, but I've adapted to shooting a right handed gun on the left side so it's no big deal if not.

I see a few of you guys love the Sako A7 as well. Pretty much the same price as the X Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed, so I guess it would come down to which one has the better reputation. I'd probably be fine with either one, although I'm leaning towards the X Bolt right now.

To the OP, I've been shooting a Remington 700 .270 ever since I started hunting, the same gun my Uncle used for a couple of decades, and it shoots about as straight as it gets. The same goes for my Winchester Model 70 .280, but both guns have seen several hunting seasons, and I'm not sure of either company's quality these days. Back in the day though, it was tough to beat the Rem 700. For the price range you're under, I would think about saving a few more dollars to get one of the $1,000 guns, but if not, I'd go with the Tikka or one of the standard Browning X Bolts. I think there are some rebates floating around right now for Browning that you might look into. I've also been hearing a lot of positive things about Ruger recently. It's my understanding they made some administrative changes that have paid off as far as quality is concerned.

[Karl Blanchard]

The Tikka is going to have better fit/finish, will be lighter, the bolt is going to be smoother, magazines easier to change, won't require custom scope bases (but do require Tikka specific rings) and the trigger is going to be better. The only drawback for the Tikka is that their synthetic stocks are extremely sensitive to variations in action bolt torque.

The Savage is arguably going to be more accurate in the long run and the accustock chassis is aesthetically ugly but engineering wise a thing of beauty. Really the Savage is just a bit less refined than the Tikka, but still a very good rifle.

first thing I do is toss the tikka rings and go to something better, which is basically anything.  Egw base and some egw, warne, etc. will do the trick.

[bobcat]

Seems like the Ruger American is getting tons of attention but not one vote?

Why buy a $350 rifle if you have $1000 to spend?

Why pay $1000 if a $350 rifle shoots as well?

Good point, but you generally get what you pay for. The question was the best rifle under $1000. I don't think the Ruger Anerican is the answer to that question. I was simply giving my opinion as to why nobody had voted for the American. I do think it's a good value if your budget is $400 rather than $1000.

[Karl Blanchard]

Accuracy wise right out of the box I would put the Ruger American up against almost all the rifles on that list